Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has discussed the debate surrounding ticket prices and the impact it could have on Premier League football.
In recent weeks, more and more supporters around Europe have taken a stance against their clubs enforcing increased costs on ticket prices, with supporters of the north London club themselves enforcing the board to retract an increased charge on season ticket holders for the UEFA Champions League game against Barcelona later this month.
With some of the best clubs in the world, including Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona and Bayern Munich charging minimal fees for season tickets, compared to Arsenal’s, which is well-known as the most expensive in football, supporters have been urged to back Leicester City’s ‘five minute protest’ at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.
The protest is in regards to the late change of kick off from Saturday to Sunday in order to fit the television broadcast times. Wenger, speaking to the media in his pre-match news conference on Friday, weighed in on the subject.
It [ticket prices] is a very complicated subject because how do you decide what s the right level of your ticket price is by your attendance and then you are compared many times to foreign clubs, but I don’t think we are on the same level ground as them. For example, Bayern Munich paid one euro, for our ground we paid £128m, in France, they pay nothing at all for their stadiums, or for their maintenance, we pay absolutely everything ourselves so we have to generate more revenue.
It’s true that we get more television income but that’s down to the audience, you know the pressure of the market means we have to pay the players a higher price, meaning our expenses come up straight away to increase the wages.
After that, you want the ticket prices to be as comfortable as possible for our fans, where is the right level? I looked a bit at the comparisons, our cheapest price is cheaper than anywhere in London, our most expensive price is more expensive is a fraction higher than anyone in London, but our most common ticket price is lower than in many places in England, so I don’t think we have a massive problem on that front.
You have to find a compromise on [away tickets] because they have to be there, we do our maximum to help the away fans and we have specialised people who look at that and we want fans to attend our games, of course.
Arsenal face Leicester City on Sunday afternoon, knowing that a win could send them within just two points of the top of the league.
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